Violin tone vibrator



Feb. 23 1926.

l. HESSEL Y VIOLIN TONE VIBRATOR Filed June 5, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR /s/ 00/? HESSEL ATTORNEYS Feb. 23 1926;

I. HESSEL VIOLIN TONE VIBRA'IOR Filed June 5, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Willi infill IHIIH'HI.

INVENTOR 6 Y E m H o Rwm 0 mm Patented Feb. 23, 1926.

UNITED STATEfi ISIDOR HESSEL, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW

VIOLIN TONE VIBRATOR.

Application filed June 5, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

c it known that 1, lemon Hnssnn, a citizen of Russia, residing at Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvcments in Violin Tone Vibrators, of which the following is a specification.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a new and i D'IPl'OVQCl construction of a tone resonator for violins, violoncellos and similar stringed instruments by neans of which an instrument of cheap construction may be made to give the soft mellow tones of the very expensive instruments.

A further object is to provide a construction of a resonator which will be ch ap to manufacture and which may be readily at tached to any existing instrument of the type set forth without requiring any great amount of alteration of the instrument.

Another object is to provide a plurality of (oils of tempered wire which are so supported that they will vibrate in resonance with the tones produced by the strings so as to not only srengthen the harmonics but also to increase the number of possible harmonics which are so strengthened.

For the accomplishment of these and such further objects as will hereinafter be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this appertains, the invention consists in the con struction, combination and arrangement of parts herein specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications maybe resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a portion of a violin embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

F 3 is a section on the line .3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 is a section on the line l-t of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevation, partly in section, illustrating the mounting for the resonating coils.

Serial N0. 643,521.

it is a well known fact that the value and "tone of a violin or similar instrument consists in the perfection with which it intensifies all possible sounds and this quality depends essentially upon the quality of the wood, the incllowncss of which increases with age, and also upon. the p ection of the worlnnanship and the construction and arrangement of the parts, consequently the best instruments are very costly and consequently it has heretofore been impossible to reproduce the pureness and quality of the sounds of the costly instruments with the cheaper ones. l y invention therefore contemplates an attachment whicl may be readily placed upon the cheap instruments at a very slight additional cost, which will enable the cheaper instruments to produce tones of as great purity and mellowncss the costly instruments.

is shown in the drawings, the construction of the violin proper 10 is the same as any ordinary instrument and includes the usual tail piece 11 secured to the rear end of the violin in the usual manner so that the forward end of said tail piece to which the strings of the instrument are attached will have a slight relative movement with respect to the body of the violin. Associated with said tail piece is a tuning device for the trings of the violin, which consists of an adjusting screw 12 threaded into a suitable tapped hole in the forward end of the tail piece and provided ith a knurled head The bottom of screw 12 is turned down as t M to pass freely through a bushing 15 ieid upon a contact cleinei'it 1.6 by means of a nut 17. The element 10 may be constructed as shown of a pie;c of celluloid or other suitable material. substantially U shaped in cross section as shown in Fig. l. A washer 18 or other suitable means provided to retain the element 16 upon the screw 12, and said element may be cut away as indicated at 19 to allow for the curvature of the violin as shown in Fig. 8. By means of this con struction it will be apparent that when the element 16 is engaged with the body of the violin by an adjustment of the screw 12 there will be produced, in effect, a pivotal movcment of the tail piece 11 about its point of attachment to the violin. This movement will vary the tension of the strings upon the usual bridge piece and in this manner a simultaneous tuning of said strings may be effected prior to their individual tuning in the customary manner. It is to be noted that the pressure of the element 16 against the violin body, when adjusting the tail piece, is not suliicient to materially affect the reso nance of the inst ument.

As shown in Fig. 5, a base bar 20 is suitably secured to the under face of the top of the sounding box and a pair of metallic. tubes 21 are pressed into suitable apertures in the bar. The exterior circumferences of the tubes 21 are threaded to receive the nuts 22 and 20 by means of which the spirally wound resonators and 26 are secured to the rib. The resonators are constructed oi a number of turns oi spring wire and I have found that from (3 to 7 turns produce the best results.

resonators 2t are constructed of ti 'clzer wire than the resonators and these in turn are of thicker wire than the resonator 26. I have found very excellent re sults are obtained by using #1 B. S. gauge wire for resoi'iators 241-, 1%: gauge for resonators and 16 gauge for resonator 26. The inner end of each of the spirals as shown obviously anust be free to vibrate while the outer end should be firmly secured to a metallic support, which preferably should be a hollow tube as shown. Fig. 7 shows two different modes of securing the resonator that at the right having its outer end straight and passing through a suitable aperture of the tube while the resonator shown at the left has its outer end coiled into an eye which is wound around the tube.

hen the strings are vibrated in the usual manner, the vibrations thereof are com municatcd through the bridge to the top of the sounding box which communicates its vibrations to the air within the sounding box according to the well known principles of instruments of this character. The vi brations of the. air are transmitted to the resonators setting them in vibration thereby producii'ig a double resonance by means of The 1 which all the upper partials of the tones are I eliminated and the harmonics and overtones are strengthened. By the elimination of theseupper partials and the strengthening of the harmonics, the harsh squeaky notes which characterize the cheap instruments are thereby avoided.

While I have shown my invention as applied to a violin, it will be understood that it equally applicable to a cello, bass ters Patent of the United States, is:

l. The combination with a violin. or the like, of a plurality of coils of spring wire mounted within the sounding box and means to secure one end of said coils to the sounding box comprising a hollow metallic tube to which outer end of said coils is secured while the inner end of said coils is free to vibrate.

In a violin, a sounding box, a base bar mounted therein, a resonating coil in said sounding box, a tubular member extending tiansversely through said bar and having a transverse opening therethrough capable of receiving the free end of said resonating coil, and means adjustable on said tubular member for clamping said end of the coil thereto.

3. In a violin, a sounding box, a base bar mounted therein, resonating coils in said sounding box, a tubular member extending transversely through said bar and having transverse openings in each end thereof and each opening capable of receiving the free end of one of said coils, said ends of the tubular member being screw threaded, and nuts on said screw threaded ends of the tubular member between which the free ends of said coils are clamped.

-l. In a violin, a sounding box, a bridge thereon over which the strings of the violin extend, a tail piece movable relative to said sounding box and to which the strings of the violin are connected, and a tuning device carried by said tail piece and including an element movable into engagement with said sounding box to move said tail piece rela tive to said box to vary the tension of said strings upon said bridge.

5. In a violin, a sounding box, a bridge thereon over which the strings of the violin extend, a tail piece movable relative to said sounding box and to which the strings of the violin are connected, and means for moving said tail piece relative to said box to vary the tension of said strings upon said bridge.

In testimony whereof I have aiiixed my signature.

ISIDOR HESSEL.

Hill 

